FAA Begins Review of Boeing’s Redesigned 737-10 Alerting System

The FAA has begun reviewing Boeing’s redesigned crew-alerting and angle-of-attack systems for the 737-10, formally launching an evaluation process required by Congress before the long-delayed aircraft can be certified. The review also covers retrofit packages that must eventually be installed across the entire 737 Max family as part of post-crash safety reforms, the agency said.

Boeing’s proposed upgrade introduces a synthetic enhanced angle-of-attack (AOA) system and adds new capabilities allowing flight crews to disable stall-warning and overspeed alerts under defined conditions. The FAA will assess whether these changes meet the safety improvements mandated after two fatal Max crashes and the subsequent overhaul of the aircraft certification process.

Congress in 2022 waived a deadline that would have forced Boeing to redesign the Max’s alerting architecture before certifying the 737-7 and 737-10. In return, lawmakers required Boeing to equip the Max 10 fleet with approved cockpit safety upgrades within three years of the type entering service. The FAA said it will also examine planned modifications for other Max variants to ensure consistent implementation of required safety enhancements.

The review, announced on December 12, 2025, comes as Boeing continues to face major certification delays for both the Max 7 and Max 10. The program has been slowed by engine de-icing concerns, quality-control lapses, and heightened regulatory scrutiny in the aftermath of earlier Max issues. Regulators have kept the 737-10 under especially close watch as Boeing works to close remaining gaps involving flight-deck systems and crew-alerting logic.

Southwest Airlines, the largest Max operator, now expects Max 7 certification in August 2026, with entry into service early the following year. The Max 10, further behind in the process, still lacks a firm timeline. The FAA has reiterated that it will not commit to target dates, emphasizing that progress will occur only when all requirements are satisfied.

Boeing’s updates directly address lessons learned from the 2018 and 2019 Max accidents in Indonesia and Ethiopia, in which crews received limited or conflicting information as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) repeatedly activated, driving the nose down. The crashes killed 346 people and triggered a 20-month global grounding of the Max fleet. Both Congress and the FAA subsequently pushed for more intuitive and consistent cockpit alerting across commercial aircraft to better equip pilots to diagnose abnormal situations.

MCAS is an automated flight-control law designed for the Max to counter pitch-up tendencies at high angles of attack caused by the aircraft’s larger, more forward-mounted engines. The system was intended to make the Max handle similarly to earlier 737 models, thereby avoiding extensive pilot retraining. However, MCAS’ reliance on a single angle-of-attack sensor contributed to the chain of failures in both accidents.

As part of the 737-10 review, the FAA said it will oversee Boeing’s efforts to provide operators with the service bulletins and technical documentation required to comply with retrofit obligations. Regulators will certify design changes across the Max family to ensure consistent application of required safety enhancements.

The FAA’s move underscores the level of oversight Boeing continues to face as it works to stabilize and restore confidence in its 737 program. The agency recently lifted a production cap that had limited Max output to 38 aircraft per month following the 2024 Alaska Airlines 737-9 incident, which exposed deficiencies in Boeing’s manufacturing processes. Production was raised to 42 aircraft per month only after Boeing implemented targeted quality-control improvements mandated by regulators.

Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, aerotime.aero